Monument record MDO2322 - Medieval deer park, Rampisham

Medieval deer park at Rampisham enclosing about 250 acres. It is mentioned in documentary sources from 1299 to about 1530, but had presumably been disparked by 1583 as it is not mentioned in a list of Dorset parks compiled that year. The course of the park pale is clear and the bank and ditch are for much of their length well preserved.

(Centred ST 553018) A medieval deer park at Rampisham covers about 250 acres. It is mentioned in documentary sources from 1299 to c. 1530 but had evidently been disparked before 1583 as it is not mentioned in the list of Dorset parks compiled that year. The course of the park pale is clearly marked apart from one point (see plan), and the bank and ditch are for much of their length well preserved, particularly along the edge of Great Coppice where the bank survives up to 19ft. Wide and 5-6ft. High. It is assumed the hedge between points 1-4 (on plan) is the correct line of the park pale but there is no trace of a bank. However, banks of various sizes occur around the oddly shaped salient dotted on the plan. It is possible this was an enclosure on the side of the park. <1> ST 549017. Boundary bank in the N of Great Coppice. Scheduled. <2> Investigated 1986, for details see archive account. <4> ST 54960189; ST 55370240; ST 55760141. Three surviving lengths of the medieval deer park pale at Rampisham. The remains of the pale consist of a bank up to 1.3 metres high and 6 metres wide with an internal ditch 2 metres wide and 0.5 metres deep, along the western and north eastern sides of the park. To the south west, the boundary is defined by a 1.2 metre high scarp with traces of an internal ditch. <9>

Record last edited

Jun 5 2023 12:44PM